Chapter 1
Hadrian
The Hearth HQ Hellions are a kickass team—I was their star quarterback just last year—but the Punishers are better this season. Especially since I joined.
“Al-ka-zar! Al-ka-zar!” The crowd screams my last name as my offense gets into formation.
Dipping to the left, my right-side defense barrels into the opposing team’s, and I duck and roll beneath the fray.
The Hellions weren’t expecting that. It’d be far more common for a gargoyle player to leap up and over or take up into the sky as high as the rules legally allow.
Never stopping, I rise and keep sprinting fast as hells to the end zone, where I dive and roll again.
Safe. The skyball ref declares a touchdown, and the crowd goes wild. My teammates crowd around me, lifting me high as the entire arena chants my house name on repeat.
My eyes drift to the sidelines where my former academy coach, Manorin Longhorn, sits with his new mate, Catherine Evrien.
Someone else coaches the Hearth HQ Hellions these days, so I know Nor and Cath came to watch me.
He tried to recruit me to the small monster haven of Ever, in Massachusetts, but my heart led me home to Pine Gulch and the Punishers.
In a perfect world, he’d have taken over the Punishers, and I’d have gotten my dream monster town, dream team and dream coach all at the same time.
I’ll settle for two out of three, though.
A horn blows, and the game ends. Most of my team heads for the lockers, but I head to the sidelines to sign a few t-shirts and more than one pair of boobs.
Nor waits patiently until I reach him, then pulls me in for a firm handshake and a clap on the shoulder, red eyes sparkling. “Great game, kid.”
I resist the urge to remind him that, at thirty-four, I’m not a kid. But if I hadn’t left the Protector Academy partway through my senior year last year, I’d still be there, so I suppose he has a point. To him I am a kid.
He shoots me a wry look. “Still wish you’d come to Ever.”
I laugh. “Building year for you, huh?”
“Or three,” he grumbles. “Give me three years, and we’ll be ready to kick anyone’s asses.”
We part, and Catherine pulls me in for a hug next, gray eyes wrinkling in the corners. She smells like fancy French perfume as her elegant gray waves tickle my face.
“We’re so proud of you,” she says quietly. “Awesome game, Hadrian…”
“I can’t wait to get home,” I whisper with a little laugh.
Catherine and Nor bounce back and forth between the tiny monster towns of Ever and Pine Gulch, where I’ve just moved, and I’m a regular at their place for dinner at least a few times a month.
We’re all a touch homebody-ish, and I think that tendency bonded our little trio.
Not to mention Nor’s like a second father to me, and Catherine is my cool auntie who’s wholly unrelated but absolutely there if I need something.
I’d have followed Nor when he left the Hellions to build Ever’s team, but Pine Gulch called me in a way nothing else ever really has. There were so many reasons to come back to the Montana-based monster haven.
My best friend, Jasper, is in town. His family. And I love his family more than my own.
Nor, Catherine, and I catch up for a moment before I sense Coach’s eyes on me. Turning, I jog across the field and head to the locker room for the post-game rundown. After the analysis and a quick shower, I’m dressing when one of the other gargoyle players claps me on the shoulder.
“Hey, Alk, we’re headed out to Cattedrale for a little fun.” He waggles his bushy brows. “You wanna come this time?”
Cattedrale. I’ve had a few sexy experiences there, but these days, it’s not for me.
Laughing, I shake my head as I grab my bag and shut the locker. “Nah. You guys have fun.”
He cocks his head to the side. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d assume you have a sweetie, as much as you refuse to come out with us.” He groans. “Or don’t tell me, you’re going to the godsdamned library again for some book.”
“No mate,” I confirm. “No girlfriend. No guy friend. No books this time. I’m just gonna visit some friend friends while we’re here. I promise I’ll come next time, though.”
All lies.
“Liar,” he says with a snort, slapping my back with the spade-shaped tip of his long purple tail. “You never come.”
“Not true,” I correct. “I went to that whiskey tasting event.”
He groans again and slaps a hand over his face, running it up and over one long, curved horn. “That was, like, eight games ago, dude. I’m not gonna bug you about tonight, but come with us sometime, please? We kinda like you. And it’ll be good for you.”
I doubt it. I wasn’t a party animal at the Protector Academy, and I’m not a party animal now. Give me a nice whiskey, a library, a roaring fire and a great view, and I’m happy.
I promise again that I will, but the reality is that I can’t wait to get back to Pine Gulch.
It’s where I feel the most like myself. It’s where I feel at home.
And even though the big old ranch house I bought is in terrible shape and needs a lot of work, I’d still rather be there dealing with that than here in a sex club dungeon watching my teammates enjoy the perks of being famous skyball players.
Sex dungeon could be fun with the right person, my brain helpfully supplies.
But I don’t have the right person, so I’d rather not go.
Not that I wouldn’t take someone special if the chance arose.
After grabbing my bag, I head out the players’ exit and pull a hoodie up over my head, slotting my curved horns through dual holes in the top of it.
My black hair is knotted at the base of my neck, and if I keep my head down, I can mostly walk through monster headquarters without getting stopped a ton of times for autographs.
Of course, my size alone makes other monsters look, but that can’t be helped.
I’ve learned to hunch my shoulders and shuffle a bit.
Hearth HQ’s black sky opens up and dumps out snow, slicking up the streets. I love it because it means most monsters will be consumed with getting inside.
Dipping into an alleyway, I walk until I reach Sembin Jewelers, a small shop owned by a family friend. Inside, I head directly to the back display case and glance at a specific piece I’ve seen before. Breathing a sigh of relief, I smile at the sales clerk as I point to a delicate chain necklace.
“I’ll take that necklace, please, and can you ship it in a gift box for me?”
I’ll see Bluebell tomorrow but I love sending her things in the mail. It’s become a tradition of ours.
The pixie clerk smiles as she removes the dainty necklace from its velvet tray. “Of course, Hadrian. This is absolutely gorgeous. Girlfriend?”
Shaking my head, I fish around in my pocket for my credit card, then slap it onto the counter. “Just a friend.”
Friend.
That word’s never really fit the complicated maelstrom of my emotions toward Bluebell Tucker. But, per usual, I keep it friendly out of my respect for her brother and our friendship.
Completing the transaction, I scribble a little note to be included with the shipment. It’s perfect for her and while she doesn’t wear a ton of jewelry, I know she’ll love this.
A snowy half hour later, I make my way inside the Grand Portal Station on the Protector Academy grounds. The school might be my old haunt, but as I think about home, my feet move faster.
Stalking through the wide arched entryway, I head for the Higher Grounds coffee shop at the far end of the station.
Glowing green doorways situated around the room form a network of magical portals connecting all fifty-plus hidden monster havens.
The bright doors emit faint green light into the oval-shaped, cavernous room.
It’s busy with monsters of all species hurrying across the space, traveling between havens.
It used to be that each monster haven was only connected to one other, making it a real pain in the ass to travel between them. Away games were a nightmare to get to when that was the case.
The new Grand Portal Station has been open six months, and I can’t imagine life before it. Traveling with the Academy team to other havens sometimes took us the better part of a day, making multiple stops.
This late, there’s no line at Higher Grounds.
I order, returning the gargoyle worker’s soft smile when she recognizes me.
She tucks her hair behind one long, delicate ear, and I take a moment to admire how pretty she is.
It’s something I’ve done for the better part of five years since I went to the Academy.
I examine the females who seem interested in me, and I wait to see if they produce any sort of physical reaction in my chest. My heart’s silent, and it will be until I find my mate.
When I bite and claim her, it’ll start beating.
It’s a sensation all gargoyle males are obsessed with. I can’t wait to feel it.
But like every other time I focus on it, everything inside me is quiet and cool, despite her smile growing flirtatious.
And then there’s the other part of my brain that reminds me how this female stands a head higher than someone else I know.
How the gargoyle’s hair is a long, silky black, whereas another’s is always brilliantly royal blue—except for Punishers’ game days when the little human female uses a spell to change her locks to match my team’s colors, black and gold.
She’s on the sidelines for every home game, screaming my last name like a banshee. She’s practically my sister, although that’s never been right.
Even thinking about Bluebell’s hair makes something inside me simultaneously clench and unfurl. It’s an unpleasant sensation because what I really want right now is to be at the Tucker dinner table, spending time with my favorite people, winking at her dad while I poke fun at Jasper.
Jasper and Jack are the oldest Tucker kids…twins.
Jace is the middle Tucker, the bookish one.
And Bluebell is the only daughter and the youngest one, although she wears first daughter energy like a cloak.